Dabo Swinney Denies Report That Lane Kiffin Fed Him Tampering Intel on Ole Miss

The breakup between Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss continues to generate headlines, even as both are about to kick off new eras this weekend.

Following a report from CBS Sports that the now-current LSU head coach “fed intel” to his Week 1 opponent and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney in the lead-up to his public feud with the Rebels for allegedly tampering with California transfer Luke Ferrelli, the Clemson coach denies it.

Speaking with the media on Wednesday ahead of his matchup versus Kiffin on Saturday, Swinney says the former Rebels coach had “zero” to do with his decision to accuse Ole Miss of tampering with Ferrelli.

“I literally just heard this 45 seconds ago, so appreciate you asking about that,” Swinney said. “Here's what I would say about that, and be very clear on that. Lane Kiffin had nothing to do with I mean, zero to do with me turning in the tampering situation here at Clemson zero.”

"Zero"

LSU football coach Lane Kiffin talks with quarterback Husan Longstreet (8) at LSU football practice on Aug. 18, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Ferrelli not only committed to Clemson after entering the portal from California, but was enrolled in classes during the first week of the spring semester before re-entering the portal to flip to Ole Miss.

Shortly after Ferrelli announced his intentions to flip to the Rebels and effectively replace TJ Dottery, who followed Kiffin to LSU, Swinney went public with his tampering allegations during a press conference.

"This is just a really sad state of affairs and it's, to me, we have a broken system,” Swinney said back in January. “If there are no consequences for tampering, then we have no rules and we have no governance. This is not about a linebacker at Clemson. I feel sorry for the young man, to be honest with you. I blame the adults.”

Now, while Swinney denied being “egged on” by Kiffin to go public against Ole Miss, he admitted the two spoke. Yet, that wasn’t a fact unique to just the LSU coach.

“Lane, after you know the kid left and all that, he certainly reached out, …” Swinney said. “And honestly, I had a lot of coaches reach out, with a lot of hearsay and stuff like that. …

I got one issue. If you tamper with my program, I'm going to turn you in, and it's just that simple,” Swinney said. “Lane Kiffin had nothing to do with that, zero. I was turning that in the moment he left.”

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